Olympic Watch: Maame Biney

(Photo: biney.biney/Instagram)

Keep an eye out for U.S. short track speedskater Maame Biney (Mah-May Bye-Nee) in PyeongChang. You can't miss her infectious smile and her explosive power on the ice.

Maame was born in Ghana. At five, she visited her dad in the United States and decided to stay.

Maame's first introduction to ice skating was a beginner's figure skating class. But the instructor told Maame's dad that she was "moving too fast" for figure skating, and suggested speed skating instead.

Yesterday, Maame finished second in the opening-round heat of the 500-meter short-track speedskating race. She'll compete Tuesday in the quarterfinal rounds.

Here's a short video of Maame's speedskating trials back in December.

To learn more about Maame, check out this piece from WaPo, or Time's coverage.

-KitJ